Destiny Heart
by Titan Fallen
Summary: Destiny is an 11 year old living the dream: she's a proud owner of a rescued pony and a rescue shelter for equines. Along with her sister Reyna, she believes her life couldn't get any better. Until one day, a newcomer arrives at the worst possible time. Just when things couldn't get any worse, Destiny fears the new arrival is challenging her dreams and happiness...
1. Chapter 1

(Settings and characters belong to StarStableOnline. OC are mine)

Destiny tugged at her braid, sighing that it had once again come undone. She watched patiently as Judy led her pony Daydream to an empty stall to wait for her while she visited the library. Satisfied, Destiny followed Judy out of the stable, sneaking a glance at her beloved pony just in time for the stable manager to catch her.

"She'll be alright Dez. She gets along splendid with Butterfly" Judy commented.

Destiny let out a quick sigh. "I know, I know. It's just that...well- she's so old and I'm afraid she'll play too rough or something. Plus her joints have been a little stiff late-" Judy held up her hand. "I've got this Destiny, trust me."

Destiny visibly relaxed, waved goodbye to Daydream and skipped off to the Silverglade Manor library.

With her fair skin, smattering of freckles across her nose and cheeks, light green eyes and low-back length straw-blond hair, Destiny Heart looked more like a middle school-girl who should just be developing interest in horses rather than be running a rescue shelter. In fact, she'd been running the shelter, aptly named **Rescue Hearts Foundation** , for three years now along with major help from Johanna, the stable manager at Jorvik Stables and her older sister Reyna.

"Shelter" in fact was a poor excuse of a description for the massive operation. _Rescue Hearts Foundation_ was a literal foundation: an expansive Abilene style barn colored traditional brick red with white trim, it housed thirty stalls large enough to fit a small crowd of people. The loft sat high above the stalls, a perfect place to store any excess of goods or gear in case the gargantuan tack and food rooms filled up.

Two aisles blended through the barn; one that held a walkway for all thirty stalls which rescued and rehabilited horses filled up, and one just off to the left where four private stalls waited. One of which was used by Destiny's pony Daydream and the other used by Reyna, the teenage owner of the grey Andalusian, Stormflash.

The demands of running such an operation were not lost on ten year old Destiny; hay, grains, medications, equipment, grooming supplies and fencing were the bare minimum of the list. Potential adoptees, school riders and volunteers contributed the largest part of the beehive like atmosphere of the rescue center.

However, slow days at the center did happen, though very rarely, and this particular Friday happened to be one of them. Out of all the workers, volunteers and managers at _Rescue Hearts_ , Destiny's older sister Reyna benefited from them the most. Being a proffesional English rider was always Reyna's dream and so far, she'd come as close to it as she could. When she wasn't teaching new riders how to ride English she was hard at work practicing Dressage and Jumping techniques.

Destiny was a delightful spectator to her sister's sessions; whether they were in the Jorvik Stables paddock rehearsing the steps to the passage or flying over jumps like graceful swans at the Riding Hall, Destiny's heart swelled with pride as she watched her sister dominate the arena with careful and graceful percision.

Part of the reason Destiny decided to drive to the Manor was because Reyna had requested a volumne on "Dressage Techniques For Dummies". She had done a double take at Reyna after the request was made, but the teenager stood her ground on the decision. She had said, _"I really need to teach Stormy some new moves. Our sleeve of tricks is getting...well, a bit short. Ya know what I mean Dezzy?"_ to which Destiny had responded with a blank look and slight shake of the head. The other reason was because the center was running low on grapes, and she knew how good frozen grapes tasted to horses and volunteers on hot summer days.

Destiny grinned at the memory of Reyna's pep-talk in the morning and kept grinning as she entered the Silverglade Library.

"Eeeeasy Stormy- what a good boy! Good job! C'mon, lets get you washed up and ready for snack time. I think we've done enough today." Reyna giggled as she swung down lightly from her saddle. Unclipping her sporty black helmet and shaking her raven-colored hair free she didn't look the least bit tired, when in fact she was ready to collapse from exhaustion.

The teen would usually be up at five am in order to turn her horse out to pasture and have him back into his stall before anyone else woke up. While Storm would be out grazing and whatnot, she would run back to the feed room and set out piles of hay, grains and treats for each of the horses at the shelter in specially placed sacks on the countertops. This way, the volunteers and managers would avoid hiccups and delays in the distribution of food and keep everything running like a well oiled machine.

However, this morning wasn't a usual morning.

Reyna had stayed up until two am listening to her favorite artist, Raptor, causing her to rouse at six am. Panicking that she'd delayed the center's feed distribution by an hour, she'd haphazardly brushed her teeth and hair before blindly dashing out to the stable in her pajama bottoms and collared work shirt. She'd launched herself into the feed room- only to find that the sacks weren't there and that all the horses had already been fed _and_ that volunteers were busy turning horses out. It had taken her a few beats to figure out that Destiny had let her sleep in, plus done all her chores for her.

Energy levels still pumping at max level, Reyna had changed and gotten Stormflash fed and ready for their practice session. Unfortunately, only an hour into the sesson, the teen already felt the effects of her mad-dash-morning; lack of concentration, countless slip-ups of the steps and Stormflash's frustration at her inability to stick with one command. She decided to call it quits after only another half an hour, electing to get a few more hours of rest before she really screwed something up.

Reyna somehow managed to cross-tie Storm to remove his tack and give him a good grooming. Satisfied with her work she let Storm into his stall while emptying a medium size cup of mixed grains into a small trough right next to the feed bag that hung by the door.

Giving the stallion a quick hug and couple of kisses, she latched the door behind her and stumbled on her path back to her fluffy, cozy bed.

Having rounded the library for the fifteenth time, Destiny was finally convinced the book wasn't there. She'd found all manner of Dressage books and magazines but nothing even close to what her sister had requested. Dissapointed but not discouraged, she made her way to the Baroness to ask about the delivery of grapes. The elderly woman expressed her guilt about not having enough grapes for a full truck as she usually did but promised her life that she'd do what she could to get them in as soon as possible.

Destiny thanked her profusely, accepting the amount that the woman had ready and jogged back to the Manor stable. She approached Judy who had just finished speaking with another rider, requesting an update on Daydream.

Judy let out a chuckle. "She's _perfectly_ fine Destiny, honest. Her and Butterfly are quite the playful pair" She gestured at the buckskin Thoroughbred. "The Baroness even asked about bringing him to your shelter, just so that he can get out and interact with other horses."

Destiny nodded quickly. "Sure! That's a great idea! Tell the Baroness she can bring him whenever she wants and I'll have a stall ready for him the same day. Thanks again Judy!" she called out.

Destiny approached the stall where Daydream stood blowing and nodding her head in anticipation. She couldn't help but laugh at her pony's antics, knowing all too well that the old mare knew what was coming. Poking around in her small knapsack, she produced a shiny red apple which Daydream took carefully right out of her palm. The mare knew better than to simply snatch the treat from her rider, unlike a certain stallion back home, as that only earned her a smack on the nose and a scolding.

Destiny waited quietly while Daydream finished eating the treat in her usual slobbery, messy way. She didn't mind the mess at all, in fact believing that it was the funniest thing her pony could do. While Daydream was still busy licking off a piece of apple stuck to her upper lip, Destiny haltered and loaded her into the blue trailer that they had used for the journey to the Manor.

Unlike the pleasant trip she'd had going _to_ the Manor, the trip back to the shelter had been exhausting for Destiny.

To start off, just a few miles out of the Silverglade area one of the truck's tires blew out so suddenly she'd hit her head on the ceiling from jumping with fright. The driver of the truck said he could replace the tire himself but it would take "a few minutes". Those few minutes turned into over an hour as the driver had underestimated just how heavy a spare tire of such a large truck was. Destiny went as far as to get Daydream involved in the fiasco, asking the pony to roll the tire toward the driver and hold it in place with her muzzle as he tightened the bolts.

The final hitch in the trip was a near fatal run on the bridge to Harvest Counties with a few riders on Warmbloods. The group hashed out obscenities as she and the helpless driver sat back and let the angered girls pass, forty five minutes of uneeded drama later. As the girls raced off in a thundering cloud of dust, Destiny thrust her tounge out at them through the window.

"What are they in such a hurry for? _They_ don't have a whole shelter _and_ a teenage sister to keep up with!" she told the driver, exasperated.


	2. Chapter 2

(Settings and characters belong to StarStableOnline. OC are mine)

Stormflash was not a typical gentle giant. At first glance, he appeared serene and patient with his rider and spectators, letting himself be petted and fussed over. But in reality, behind closed stall doors, Storm was as mean as a feline _especially_ with equines physically smaller than him. Pushing, biting and kicking were only the bare minimum of his aggresive traits and not just to other horses; numerous volunteers and even Johanna herself had had the unfortunate luck of being on the recieving end of a few of his kicks. The Andalusian had grown up without his parents for the most part, his mother being taken away from him when he was only two.

Storm envied young colts viciously, especially those that arrived at the shelter with their dam, or even in the rarest case, the sire as well. He also avoided pregnant mare's conversations about they're unborn foals, spitting with rage at the first hint of it being a colt. However, there was _one_ mare he couldn't avoid even if his life depended on it: Daydream. The twenty year old pony had been in the shelter years before he was bought by his new teenage female rider, Reyna Heart. Flashing back to the days the girl brought him home, cared for him, dressed him up and actually loved him always brought a smile to his face.

A snort snapped Storm back to the present. Plodding to the bars of his stall, he caught sight of a buckskin North Swedish horse chuckling to himself. Storm let out a short nicker, making his displeasure painfully obvious.

"Hush up you cart-pulling cow! At least _I_ can actually clear a jump higher than my hock!" Storm whispered fiercely.

The bucksin cast the Andalusian a glance with his good eye, his only good eye. "Cow? Hmm, last I checked you've had to have walked at least ten feet to see one of those, outside your box that is"

The retort sparked laughter from the stalled horses down the main aisle. Storm kicked his door and barked for silence, glaring at the buckskin.

"You think you're _soooo_ funny don't you Smokey? Well I certainly don't understand what the others SEE in you. HA!" Cackling, Storm circled around his stall to his sleeping spot and plopped down with a sigh.

Every awakened horse in the stable went dead silent. Soon enough, the shelter was devoid of any equine sounds louder than breathing or the occasional rustle of bedding. But for one horse, sleep wasn't coming any time soon.

The buckskin North Swedish horse, Smokey, had lost his left eye to infection from a seemingly unrelated virus he'd picked up years ago. In order to relieve the pain and swelling, the vet had elected to remove it but his previous owner couldn't afford the cost. Instead of giving him to another shelter or selling him, she'd left him out in her pasture never to be seen again. Until one fateful night, the gelding had arrived at _Rescue Hearts_ starved, sick and depressed; upon his discovery the Heart sisters immediately began nursing him back to health, and a few years later, Smokey looked good as new even with a missing eye.

The gelding was also blessed with the patience of a saint but the temper of a devil. Despite this, Smokey never let Storm's antics ruffle his coat as he would remember the stallion's age and experience level with life and give a hearty chortle, just like now.

He pawed at a corner of bedding fitfully convincing himself to nod off. He also tried counting the stars from his stall window, but that didn't ease his mind either. His mind was ablaze with thoughts of Daydream and her little rider Dezzy: Where was Day? Was she hurt? What was taking so long for them to come back? What would he do if something-

The gelding pricked his ears. He could have sworn he'd heard a _clop clop_ of small hooves just off to the left. Focusing only on the sound, he picked up a rhythm of an uneven gait followed by a soft _fop fop fop_ of boots. He let out a huge sigh; Day and Dezzy were back home.

Awakened by the noise, Storm lifted his snout only to catch the scent of Daydream and her rider; and they smelled something awful. Blowing the foul air out of his nostrils, Storm rose to full height to get a view of what was going on: the girl removing the halt thing from Day's face, Day ever so slowly making her way into her stall, and finally the girl leaving. Storm harrumphed to get Daydream's attention but the old mare was fast asleep before Dezzy even locked her stall door.

Saturday morning. A glorious day for riders all over Jorvik to spend leisure time with their friends, families and horses. But best of all, it was a day where Destiny and Reyna could just be normal girls doing normal activities instead of bustling about like bees.

Reyna had suggested bareback riding out of Jorvik just for the fun of it, which Destiny added to by bringing a pal along. Together her, Reyna, Stormflash, Daydream and Smokey made the journey from Jorvik Stables all the way to Moorland where they stopped for rest and a snack. While the equines munched on the fresh summer grass outside Moorland Stables, the Heart sisters tracked down Loretta and Tan to gossip about the latest news.

"Omg yes! I've totes heard him talk about you when he thinks no one's there" Loretta snickered. Reyna's pale cheeks suddenly flushed.

"Ooooh, someone's turning an adorable shade of embarrassed" Destiny giggled, which only got her a sharp glance from Reyna.

"Stop it. Oh my god Dezzy, he's like- right there! Can you be _any_ more obvious?" Reyna whispered fiercely.

Destiny merely shrugged, adjusting her seat on the fence. She hazarded a glance toward Josh, who was initiating pole bending races, and caught his eye for a split second. After he looked away just as quickly, the girl gave her sister a "he's-watching-you" grin. The teen turned beet-red attempting to steal a glance at the cowboy. pretending to mess with her hair or watch the horses run across the pole bending track.

Tan lightly pulled Reyna's hair while gesturing in the cowboy's direction. "Go! Go talk to him. He's real bored with all those newbs." Loretta nodded quickly, offering to bring Josh over.

"Ohmygod no- okay...okay, I'm going over there." she replied taking a deep breath.

The teen stalked her way toward the wagon in Josh's view all the while pretending to observe the horses going by. Taking another thought-clearing breath she walked right up to him giving him a great big grin. She felt her cheeks redden again but at this point there was nothing she could do about it.

Josh whipped around just in time to catch the gorgeous hazel-eyed teen approaching him. Mid-back jet-black hair streaming like a banner behind her, golden eyes twinkling, gleaming white teeth adorned side by side with rosy cheeks, she was stunning in a shy, teenage horsegirl kind of way. The cowboy became so flustered he dropped his hat trying to re-adjust it.

Reyna suppressed a giggle while helping him with his hat. Her fingers touched his momentarily but that split second was just enough for her to catch his eye, as he did the same. An awkward moment of silence passed for what seemed an eternity only to be broken by the duo cracking up at each other like children at a pony ride.

Josh shook his head while properly adjusting his hat. "Gosh, I'm plum sorry 'bout that. I di'nt expect it to just...yea. With the wind...'nd, yea..." Now it was his turn to grow red.

Reyna's smile widened till her cheeks hurt. "That's okay. I-uh-really like your hat. It feels like well made felt. Where did you get it?"

The cowboy visibly relaxed. "It's from a real swell place called Epona. They dun got the bes' hat n' boot makers on Jorvik in my opinon."

"Wow, Epona. I've never heard of it. It's here?- on Jorvik?"

"Yep, jus' off the path from Goldspur's farm. In fact, I'm near done here for today teachin' the Western lessons. Do ya wanna-uhm...do you want me to show ya?"

Reyna smiled bashfully. "Honestly...I dunno if I'll have time to go leisurely exploring. See, I work at this place called Rescue Hearts, its a-", Josh nodded, "Oh you know it? How did you- _ohhh!_ That's right!- you and Tan came to us to adopt a horse for Thomas some years back- psh, of course! How _could_ I forget that?" she laughed nervously.

"Darn hootin'! I gotta say that's the kindest horse ya'll 'ave ever taken into your shelter. I've been thinking about goin' back one of these days and adopting a Quarter horse or maybe even a Paint."

"That's great! _That_ would be splendid. Josh you have no idea how happy it would make me- err, I mean, us...at the shelter, to see another one of our beauties find him or herself a new home."

Josh tipped his hat gentlemanly and Reyna near fainted. She caught herself in time to meet his gaze again.

"Well uh, I've got to go. My sis and I brought our horses and a friend of theirs here on bareback since today we're free. I guess I'll, see you later?"

The cowboy tipped his hat again, grinning. "My pleasure Miss Heart."

The duo waved goodbye and parted ways. While Josh got a broom to sweep up the dirt rustled up by numerous hooves, Reyna just about bolted back to her group. Tan caught her shoulders, silently demanding to know everything. The teen stuttered her words now and then but overall she managed to give a brief summary of their exchange.

"But that's great! Why didn't you accept right then and there?" Tan said with her hands on her hips.

"Becaaause, I have a job to do. Plus, I'm still working on a few things with Storm."

Destiny groaned audibly. Every time her sister said "a few things", that meant hours or even days of non-stop practice on her Dressage and Jumping. Non-stop hours meant Reyna didn't have time or energy to do her chores for her own horse which also stemmed into the other horses' chores.

Reyna shot Destiny a look which the girl made a face at. The silent sisterly disagreement sparked laughter from all four girls.

 _aaAAACHOOO!_

"May you be blessed by Epona"

"Thank you for that Smokes"

Daydream sniffed and blew the remainder of pollen from her nostrils. Her sudden sneeze had caused Smokey to jump a few feet in the air and Storm to leap to the other side of the grass patch.

"Hey! Mind warning us next time?! Geez" Storm retorted.

Smokey rolled his eyes for the two of them to see before resuming his tactful grazing. He had an eye, and particular taste, for slightly sweet grass with a twinge of tart. Finding the leaves of a certain weed and grasses that fit his taste buds wasn't always the easiest task. For this, he employed the help of Day, who's nose could sniff out a bloodhound's tracks.

Daydream pawed at a particular plant with a fluffy white top and yellow flowers growing around it. "I believe this is it Smokes. The _dandy_ one?"

Smokey jumped up in glee. "That's the one Day! Thanks!" He rushed over to wolf it down, nearly running into Storm in the process.

"HEY WHAT GIVES!" roared Storm. He bucked and threw his head earning nothing as much as a blink from either equine. Blowing his nose in frustration, the Andalusian crept his way away from the group to pick out softer, tender grass.

While he was busy nit-picking he watched the wide assortment of horses race past. Warmbloods, ponies, Quarter horses, Morgans- all those and them some that he believed were inferior to him. He was also totally sure that all the Andalusians that galloped by were jealous of his superiority and awesome skills _and_ better rider.

As if to prove his point, the trio's heads shot up at the sound of a horse neighing and bucking wildly. A sorrel Andalusian mare was trying to throw off her rider, appearing to be frustrated with the girl's inability to give the right cues to jump. The mare thrashed her head wildly meanwhile several riders had corraled around her attempting to calm the situation. Rider and horse fought for several minutes, until finally her rider jumped off and fled for the safety of the gate.

Stormflash cocked his head arrogantly at the others. " _Hmph. You'll never understand what it's like to be as good as me."_ However, Daydream and Smokey were too busy to notice his prideful stance, so he merely dropped his head back to the sweet grass.

Daydream was enjoying a well deserved roll and belly scratch when Smokey approached her, having just witnessed the madness in the Moorland paddock.

"What was that all about? Did that rider even know what she was doing?" he asked, concern in his tone.

Day shook her head. "Clearly not from what I could see. Too much pressure, directions were not clear, the mare was _obviously_ exhausted- honestly I can't believe humans don't pay attention to these things. It seems black and white to us. Pardon the pun" she chuckled. Smokey nodded in response. "Ohh I wonder where my Dezzy is. Hopefully she hasn't run off somewhere I need to go catch her"

The buckskin Swedish didn't have to search too long for her; she was right where he'd last seen her. Day thanked him, rising ever so slowly.

"Ohhhh these old bones. Still got fight in me but I'm afraid the warm up for it will take twice as long." Smokey couldn't help laughing a bit and soon enough, Day laughed right along with him.

An hour later the girls were ready to head home. They said their goodbyes to Tan, Loretta and Josh (Reyna's face tinging red again), before heading off on their journey back to the Stables. Reyna and Destiny couldn't stop chatting and laughing about how the afternoon had progressed, especially about a certain someone's invitation to visit a brand new area.

About halfway across the bridge, Reyna suddenly halted, her eyes slitted and lips pressed together. Destiny rode up beside her with genuine concern.

"What happened Riri? Is something wrong? Did you forget something?" she asked waving her hands about.

Her sister shot her a look before a cackle erupted from her. "What?- no, nothing like that. I was just thinking...maybe we could gallop back to the Stables- oh come on! We've done it before."

"Yea but not bareback! Ya know how bad that hurts Daisy's back?"

"Oh please, she'll be fine. I've seen the stuff she puts up with from horses three times her size. Trust me- she'll deal."

"But I-" Before Destiny could get another syllable in, her sister kicked into high gear, her horse but a gray blur.

"Hey! I wasn't ready-no fair!" she cried out. "C'mon Daydream, lets show her what a _real_ equine's made of!" Daydream nickered her agreement while Smokey pitched his with a snort.


End file.
